ASTANA – The QazaqGaz national company plans to launch a new Anabay gas field in the Zhambyl Region this year, according to the company’s Chair Sanzhar Zharkeshov. The announcement was made during a Sept. 11 meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as reported by the Akorda press service. The meeting focused on the company’s key economic indicators for the first half of the year and the reform in the gas industry.
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Since the beginning of 2022, QazaqGaz has implemented investment projects worth 400 billion tenge ($862.3 million) in the Atyrau and Mangystau Regions, as well as in Almaty, funded entirely by the company. It has also subsidized gas prices for households and businesses for 389 billion tenge ($838.6 million). Over the same period, nearly 450,000 citizens gained access to natural gas.
According to Zharkeshov, the company is taking measures to address the gas shortage problem and ensure a surplus of natural gas in Kazakhstan for the upcoming autumn-winter period. He also briefed Tokayev on the construction of the second line of the Beineu-Bozoi-Shymkent gas pipeline and a new export contract with China.
Zharkeshov also addressed the implementation of the medium-term strategy for the gas industry, an increase in gas processing capacity, and the prospects for gasification. The meeting also focused on efforts to expand the gas resource base.
“QazaqGaz has started developing a new Pridorozhnoe field in the country’s southern region,” Zharkeshov said.
Following the meeting, Tokayev issued several directives for ensuring stable provision of gas supplies to the domestic market, timely preparation for the heating season, promoting careful gas consumption, and on further pricing reform.
Tokayev was also briefed on the work of the KazMunayGas national oil and gas company in January-August during the meeting with the company’s Chairman, Magzum Mirzagaliyev, on Sept. 11.
Mirzagaliyev informed that the company has launched the production of the Kazakh brand of oil KEBCO (Kazakhstan Export Blend Crude Oil). The export prices for KEBCO oil have shown steady growth and exceeded the cost of Brent oil in August.
He also provided updates on the pace of shipment of fuels and lubricants from oil refineries, including for the needs of agricultural producers during the harvesting period. The company has allocated 426,000 tons of diesel fuel to the harvesting campaign.
The meeting also considered plans for expanding the company’s tanker fleet, which includes large-capacity vessels, for the transportation of energy resources in both the Caspian Sea and international waters.
According to Mirzagaliyev, the company is constructing a new desalination plant to meet the needs of Zhanaozen in the Mangystau Region and is reconstructing the Astrakhan-Mangyshlak waterline.
President Tokayev emphasized the importance of focusing on the deep processing of oil and gas.
